Monarchs and Margaritas, the major fundraiser for the Dunwoody Nature Center, is coming home after two years at Glenridge Hall in Sandy Springs.

The eighth annual event will occur April 27 at the South Terraces Atrium in Perimeter Center, where woods and a reflecting pool will remind guests of the nature center’s ambience and its mission of environmental education.

However, event spokeswoman Pat Adams said the switch was more practical than patriotic.

“We needed more space. It was a decision to move to another space where we could spread out the auction items and the party itself,” she said. “For the auction items, the items are coming in fast and furiously and we need the space to display them.”

Event Coordinator Sandra Salem said in a statement she and her committee have been collecting donations for several months for the live and silent auctions.

“There will be a wide variety of unique items and fun experiences,” she said about vacation destinations, artwork, theatre tickets and dinners.

Auction items include a farm-to-table catered dinner for 12 in a secluded pocket of Dunwoody Park, where the nature center has its home, Salem said, and a wooden bowl sculpted by nature center board member David Dalrymple.

“This event will be a shopper’s paradise,” she said.

It will help sustain the Roberts Drive resource, where annually 10,000 visitors hike, picnic, and go to camp, classes and concerts.

*We welcome your comments on the stories and issues of the day and seek to provide a forum for the community to voice opinions. All comments are subject to moderator approval before being made visible on the website but are not edited. The use of profanity, obscene and vulgar language, hate speech, and racial slurs is strictly prohibited. Advertisements, promotions, spam, and links to outside websites will also be rejected. Please read our terms of service for full guides